Awakening Hope
by Nichole Marye
Summary: "Sakura." He calls out to her. "Don't lie to me saying it meant nothing to you." He tells her and her gaze turns to his. "I'm not going to make the same mistake twice, to me is like it never happened." She tells him before walking away leaving him to watch her back. -R&R- [Sequel to "Sleepwalking Past Hope"]
1. Chapter 1

Awakening Hope

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Chapter 1: Comrades

"_Love is a ray of indirect light;  
a drop of peace, a faith that awakens."_

_-Yolandita Monge_

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It's been a little over a week since they were told Sakura would survive, that Kabuto's poison was out of her system for good. Sasuke had finally relaxed then, glad that she was alright. Everyone seemed to realize that they almost lost her and now they barely gave her time to be alone. Her room in the hospital was always crowded with visitors and the vase in her room would always have flowers.

Most days he would spend them on her room along with Naruto and the occasional visit from Kakashi. Ino would come every day for a few hours and Sasuke would see her cheer up as she talked with her best friend. Sai would also come along with Ino, he spent most of his times asking unusual questions and watching them. Sasuke couldn't help but feel that he was being studied sometimes, but he tried to pay no mind to it. Fools like that were better ignored, Sasuke reasoned with himself.

But there were sometimes where his comments would be too much for Sasuke to handle and that would result in Sasuke telling him to get the hell out, or he would just settle with glaring at him.

Everyday either Sasuke or Naruto would go and buy ramen for the three of them at Ichiraku and they would all eat at Sakura's room.

Today was Naruto's turn and that was the reason he sat in the corner of the room waiting for the blonde idiot to get there already. He was glaring at the annoying fool dressed in green who didn't seem to want to leave Sakura alone. He'd been there over an hour asking her how she felt, if she needed anything and so on. He didn't seem to get a clue that she didn't want him near her.

"Oh, my youthful blossom! Even when sick you look absolutely radiant!" He exclaimed as he smiled that creepy smile of his. Sasuke wanted to hit him, he couldn't stand his voice and he couldn't help but wonder how Sakura even put up with him.

"Uhh…thanks I guess." Sakura replied awkwardly and Sasuke couldn't help the smirk that took over his lips

"Would you do me the honor of going on a date with me?" Lee asked, but it was more as if he was yelling. Sakura looked like she wanted to say no, but stayed quiet probably for some stupid reason as to not hurt his feelings. Sasuke scoffed in response which caused both Lee's and Sakura's eyes to turn to him.

"She can't go on a date with you idiot, she's in the hospital." Sasuke told Lee as he gave him a cold look. Lee's eyes widened, if that was even possible, as if he had just realized that.

"My eternal rival, how right you are!" Lee exclaimed and turned back to Sakura. "My beautiful blossom do not worry, we'll go on a date when you're feeling well!" He exclaimed seeming to miss the terrified look on Sakura's face about the prospect of going on a date with him.

Just then the door opened and a nurse stepped into the room she looked around spotting two visitors, less than usual. "The visiting hours are over. You two can come back tomorrow." Her voice was laced with nervousness, whether it was caused by the green beast of Konoha or himself he wasn't sure.

"Until tomorrow my lovely blossom!" He exclaimed and in a swift motion blew a kiss her way, Sakura was quick to hide under the covers of her bed so the kiss wouldn't get to her and Sasuke was just amused. Lee was out of the room then and sadly didn't see her terrified expression that caused his kiss.

It made him remember back when they were all genin. When Rock Lee once blew kisses her way and she dodged them as if they were deadly shurikens, somehow he was glad to know that some things about her hadn't changed.

"Uchiha-san?" The nurse more than asked him, it was practically a plea to leave. Both he and Naruto had been breaking the no visitors after a certain hour rule, but neither of them cared. The nurse was always afraid of getting into problems for it even though Tsunade seemed to turn a blind eye to it because it was Sakura.

Sasuke turned his head away from the nurse, a sign that he wasn't moving from the place where he sat and the nurse sighed in defeat.

"Don't worry about it." Sakura told the nurse as she emerged from under the sheets and shooed away the nurse how quickly left the room closing the door behind her.

When the door closed the room turned silent, it was the first time he'd been alone with Sakura since he rushed with her in his arms from Orochimaru's old lair to the village, and even before that since that night…

"Umm, thanks." She spoke softly and Sasuke's eyes turned to her, his expression turned into one of confusion not knowing why she was thanking him.

Sakura seemed to understand his confusion because she slightly smiled before saying. "For saving me from Lee, sometimes I don't know how to say no." She shook her head.

"Well it seems he took your silence as a yes." Sasuke replied surprising even himself.

It seemed to surprise her too that he actually talked to her. "Yeah, I might have to go on a date with him when I get out of here…" She sighed, probably already thinking of excuses she could use that day.

After that the room turned silent once again, neither knowing what to say. Unlike for most of his life when Sasuke took comfort in silence he somehow found this silence uncomfortable. Since she woke up in a hospital bed it seemed she was avoiding some topics of conversation at all cost, and he knew most of those topics had to do with him.

She tried taking a sitting position in the bed with great difficulty. "Shit." She murmured as she took hold of her abdomen and groaned in pain. Sasuke immediately stood up and rushed to her side. Both he and Naruto were told they had to watch her because although the poison was supposed to be out of her system they couldn't be a hundred percent sure.

He placed his hand on her shoulder attempting to help her into a sitting position in a way where she wouldn't hurt herself. But as soon as his hand made contact with her shoulder she flinched in response her wide eyes turning to him and slapped his hand away with one of her arms.

Sasuke was taken aback but it didn't show on his face. "Need anything?" He asked her as he took a step backwards, it was obvious she didn't want him touching her.

She started at him and Sasuke wanted nothing more than to know what was going through her mind. Was she seeing the Sasuke that once tried to kill her? Or was she seeing the Sasuke that had brought her comfort on a dark night? He could see doubt in her emerald eyes as she gazed up at him and when she opened her mouth to speak the door was open and she quickly turned her attention to the intruder.

Sasuke closed his eyes in annoyance before turning to the door himself to see none other than Naruto with their dinner. He could hear Sakura's sigh of relief and he went back to the chair he had been sitting in a while ago.

"Naruto could you hand me the pills?" She asked the blonde as she pointed to the bottle of pills in front of the table Sasuke was currently sitting at. Sasuke gave her a look of disbelief that she pretended not to notice.

"Sure, Sakura-chan!" He told her happily. He placed their dinner in the table and grabbed the bottle of pills handing it over to Sakura.

"Thanks." She smiled as she opened the bottle to take two pills.

Naruto gave Sasuke his ramen and his pair of chopsticks and took Sakura's over to her bed. "Want me to feed you?" He asked in a joking manner.

"No, but thanks anyway Naruto." She stuck out her tongue at him as she took her ramen.

Naruto came back to sit in the chair across from Sasuke taking hold of his ramen, Sasuke wondered how many had he eaten before bringing over their dinner but decided not to ask him.

"Itadakimasu." Sakura murmured softly as she started eating her ramen.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto murmured with his mouth full to both of his team mates.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he too started eating his ramen.

Sasuke particularly didn't love ramen but he had gotten used to it since he came back to the village, it was almost all he ate thanks to a ceirtan blonde knucklehead sitting across from him. Naruto was already halfway through his ramen.

"You have to get better soon, Sakura-chan." Naruto spoke with his mouth full and then after swallowing he added. "I wanna go on missions, I'm sick of doing nothing!" He exclaimed as he once again turned his attention to the ramen.

Sakura paused her eating to smile over at Naruto. "Don't worry, I should be out of here soon. If you're sick of doing nothing then imagine how I feel, I've done nothing but sit in a hospital bed all day." She complained as she put the ramen in the nightstand beside her.

Sasuke didn't join their conversation and felt slightly out of place. Both his teammates were practically ignoring the fact that she had almost died not too long ago.

"Yeah, if you don't get some excersice soon you'll get fat." Naruto laughed as he finished his ramen.

"What did you say?!" Sakura asked dangerously, Sasuke looked over at both Naruto and Sakura with interest as he continued eating.

"That you'll get fat!" Naruto exclaimed loudly.

"Idiot." Sasuke muttered. Sasuke had always known Naruto to be an idiot, but not to have a death wish. Even he knew you shouldn't call woman fat unless you wanted to die. But he knew where Naruto got his new found courage. He thought that just because Sakura was hospitalized she couldn't fight back.

He saw Sakura's glare and smirked. She grabbed the ramen she had placed on her nightstand and threw it at Naruto who yelled in a not too manly way in response. "That'll teach you to call me fat!" She screamed and Sasuke was sure that if any other patient was sleeping they had been woken up by her yelling.

"How could you do this Sakura?!" Naruto asked as he looked down at himself covered in ramen.

Both Sasuke and Sakura turned to him with confused looks not getting his dramatic tone.

"Ramen shouldn't be wasted like this!" He threw his arms up in the air as he stood up from the seat.

"Then eat it off yourself, dobe." Sasuke sarcastically told the blonde covered in ramen.

"That's unsanitary teme!" He yelled back not getting Sasuke's sarcasm and Sasuke sighed in frustration.

"You're an idiot Naruto." Sakura said as she laughed. Sasuke turned to her as she did; he didn't remember the last time he had seen her laugh like that. So carelessly, so free; as if there was nothing wrong with her world. Her laughter filled the room making Naruto grin in response and there was a ghost of a smile gracing Sasuke's features.

She had always been the life of the team, without her there was no happiness in the team, no hope. It was now that he finally felt he was back in Team 7. With Sakura laughing and Naruto grinning like an idiot as he stood there covered in ramen.

It is then as Sakura's laughter dies out and she looks over at him with a small smile on her face that Sasuke thinks that maybe they can become a team again. Maybe Team 7 isn't as lost as he once thought.

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**A/N:**

_**Here's the long awaited sequel as promised. I know I took too long, sorry. Thanks to all of those who read the first part and are now here reading the second part and also to those who just started reading. :)**_

_**I hope you like how the story started, it took me a while until I decided it was right how I wanted it. But whether it's good or not you'll be the judge. :P**_

_**I'm not sure how long it'll take me to post every chapter but I'll try my best. :)**_

_**Reviews as always are greatly appreciated. Any comments, question, ideas, write in the box below.  
**_

_**Remember, you review and I update.  
Deal? ;)**_


	2. A First

Awakening Hope

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Chapter 2: A First

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Sakura is surprised when she wakes that morning to an empty room, where there is no Naruto arguing, in what Naruto calls 'hushed tones', with Sasuke. Instead she's greeted with silence; it's something she's barely had since she woke up in the hospital bed a little more than a week ago. There's always been someone visiting her, someone watching over her so she relishes the silence around her knowing it won't last long.

She was woken up by the light coming through the curtains of the window; the whole room seemed to light up. She knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep and so she tried to get herself into a sitting position.

Her wounds still stung from time to time but she was feeling better. As she sat in the bed she tried to stretch her limbs and found that although she had some difficulty it was getting easier than the day before.

She felt stiff from being on a bed for so long. If it were for her she wouldn't be in the hospital, she was supposed to be the doctor not the patient but Tsunade would have none of that and she refused to let her go until she was completely healed.

Sakura didn't push the matter further because she knew she was in no position to do so. She left the village without permission to chase revenge. It was hypocritical of her to chase revenge after so long ago telling Sasuke it didn't bring any happiness.

She gripped the sheets of the bed tightly as she thought of her parents smiling faces and how wherever they were now they wouldn't agree with what she did. She silently prayed they could forgive her not only for what she did, but for not being in the village to protect them from Kabuto.

She slowly stood up from the bed and made her way to the bathroom shaking her head to get rid of the thoughts plaguing her mind. There was no use thinking about something that can't be changed. At least she knew Kabuto wouldn't hurt anyone close to her anymore. He was gone.

She opened the sink and threw water at her face before looking at herself in the mirror. Through the days the bruises had healed and though there were still some yet to be healed they weren't skin deep and those would take a little longer.

She proceeded to brush her teeth and wash herself up as quickly as she could knowing that sooner or later someone would show up. After taking a quick bath she proceeded to put on her clothes some shorts and a black tube shirt.

As she walked out of the bathroom her lips turned up in a smile as she heard a loud voice approaching. "That was a fluke! You just caught me off guard!" Naruto yelled accusingly.

"Whatever you say dobe." Sasuke replied his voice uncaring but Sakura could hear the amusement beneath the uncaring façade.

Naruto opened the door without knocking as usual and stepped inside with Sasuke following close behind him. "You should learn to knock." Sasuke muttered under his breath. Sakura turned to face them; both of them were sweaty and dirty probably from a sparring match not too long ago. She frowned, did they have nothing better to do?

"Should I ask who won?" Sakura asked crossing her arms over her chest, Naruto instantly pouted.

"It was a tie." He lied.

"Liar." Sasuke muttered with a scoff.

"Anyway!" Naruto spoke loudly trying to change the subject from his recent lost to something else. "What are you doing out of bed? You're supposed to be resting!" Naruto protested loudly.

"I'm feeling better already Naruto, and I just wanted to stretch my limbs for a while." She told them with a sigh as she sat once again in the bed knowing Naruto wouldn't leave her alone unless she did.

Naruto proceeded to take a seat at a corner of her bed and Sasuke took his usual seat at the corner of the room. "Why do you seat so far away teme?" Naruto asked Sasuke who raised an eyebrow at him in response but didn't answer.

Sakura, too, wondered why he sat so far away and why he barely ever talked to her. But she partially knew why. Things had been awkward between them since the accident, and although sometimes as she looks at him she can recall the reasons why she quickly shakes the thoughts away pretending that night didn't exist.

"Leave him over there Naruto, you can't force someone to be sociable. At least he's here, that's a lot coming from him." Sakura spoke amiably over to Naruto who didn't look convinced but dropped the subject. "By the way, could you two consider the possibility of breaking me out of here?" She asked a sheepish smile on her face as she looked over at her team mates.

"You'll be out of here tomorrow." Sasuke spoke, in other words letting her know he was not letting her out of the hospital today.

"Exactly, Sakura-chan!" Naruto for once seemed to agree with Sasuke.

"If it was either of you in my position you would have already broken out of the hospital." Sakura pouted crossing her arms over her chest. Naruto grinned while Sasuke smirked.

Sakura's pout turned into a smile as she watched Naruto and Sasuke. She couldn't remember the last time they talked between them so freely as if nothing was wrong, as if they hadn't once tried to kill each other. It had been way before Sasuke had left the village and she would be lying if she said she hadn't missed this kind of interaction between Team 7.

"You almost died Sakura-chan, we can't risk losing you so you'll just have to wait 'til tomorrow to get out of here." Naruto told her his gaze on hers and she could see how worried he'd truly been for her.

"Alright." Sakura spoke, another day wouldn't hurt her and it would make Naruto feel better. She could handle it.

"Well anyway, I have to go. I told Hinata-chan I'd meet her at Ichiraku's." Naruto chuckled as he quickly stood up from his seat after waving goodbye at Sakura and telling Sasuke in a 'discretly' manner to take care of her he left, closing the door behind him and once again the room was left in silence.

"I hope Tsunade-sama lets us go on a mission together soon, it's been too long." Sakura said, trying to make conversation with the raven haired Uchiha but to no avail.

Sasuke would just look at her, as if studying her and she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under the pressure of his gaze. "Hn." Was his only response and she couldn't help but sigh in frustrations.

Some things hadn't changed and she doubted they ever would. Sasuke was as silent as ever and she was almost sure his social skills could even be worse than Sai's. "Haven't you wondered how it is that Naruto's with Hinata now? I mean, how he ended up with her?" Sakura asked the Uchiha and she saw as his eyes turned to hers in interest.

"Hinata had just decided not to try anymore and had even considered the idea of going out with Kiba, thinking that Naruto would never stop to look at her." Sakura stopped to chuckle before continuing. "That same day Naruto got up with only one goal in mind, that goal was named Hinata Hyuga. That day as he woke up he suddenly realized that she was there, it was a feeling that had started to grow even before the war."

"Was about time." Sasuke muttered under his breath, but Sakura heard him and smiled in response.

"When he found out Kiba was planning on stealing her from him he challenged him to a fight, Kiba was in the hospital for a week and Hinata wasn't happy with Naruto. It took Naruto a whole full month to win her over, and after that I've never seen him happier." There was a small smile on her lips as she recalled the story. She was glad Naruto found someone like Hinata.

"Why are you telling me this?" Sasuke asked Sakura raising an eyebrow at her.

"There are a lot of things you don't know, a lot of things you missed out on while you were away." Sakura told him.

Sasuke stared at her, but didn't say anything because she was right she could see that in his eyes. He missed out on a lot of things and although most of it where things he didn't particularly care about she knew there were times in which he felt left out; because while he was away time went on and they went on without him while he was paused in a standstill.

The door to her room burst open and Sakura saw Sasuke flinch in response to the loud voice. "Sakura!" She screamed.

"Hello Ino, could you keep your voice down?" Sakura asked as a smile spread on her face at seeing her best friend.

"I can't! You won't believe what happened!" She exclaimed practically jumping up and down with joy. Sakura was a little afraid to ask, but she knew Ino would tell her sooner or later whether she wanted to hear it or not.

"Umm, Choji decided to go on a diet?" Sakura asked.

"As if! Just yesterday he was munching down on chips as if there was no tomorrow." Ino snorted. "You know, I actually think he's getting even fatter. But if I so much as mention it he'll go on a rampage so yeah."

"Shikamaru's gonna _finally_ marry Temari?" She gave it another try.

"Nah, last I heard from Shika they had a big fight of where the wedding would be held. It's the third time they've postponed their wedding!" Ino informed her and Sakura sighed. "I love Shika and I'm very happy for him, but there are times I think they'll end up getting married when their ninety."

"Then what! Tell me already." Sakura groaned.

"I spent my first night with Sai; I'm not a virgin anymore!" Ino screamed and Sakura's gaze turned to Sasuke who was slightly glaring at Ino's back.

"Umm, Ino? Sasuke's here." Sakura informed her best friend who had just yelled out her secret to the whole hospital.

"Who cares, he's practically a lamp post." Ino said dismissing Sasuke as if he wasn't there. "So aren't you gonna ask me how it went?" Ino pouted.

"Eww, no thanks he was my team mate!" Sakura exclaimed slightly weirded out by the conversation.

"Don't tell me you did it with him too?" Ino asked accusingly her hands on her hips as she pretended to glare at her friend.

"Of course not, Ino!" Sakura shook her head.

"Then tell me, oh tell me! Who was your first?" Ino asked and Sakura's eyes widened in response. "Was it Naruto? Or maybe Lee? Nah, I know it was Kakashi!" She wriggled her eyebrows at Sakura and the pinkette only wished to disappear in that instant.

"I haven't had a first Ino." Sakura spoke trying to avoid Ino's gaze, she could feel Sasuke's eyes on her and she tried desperately to ignore it because there was no way she was ready to acknowledge the fact that she had a first, much less that said first was Uchiha Sasuke.

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**A/N:**

**Thanks to the 28 people who reviewed on the first chapter, this is all for you! :) You're all allowed to hate me for taking so long to update, I'm sorry...this time I don't even have a proper excuse, this chapter was done a few days ago.**

**I'm surprised so many people reviewed already and I really hope you liked this chapter. Next chapter is being worked on but I don't know when I'll be able to get it done since I owe another chapter for another story.**

**This semester I might take a little bit longer than usual to update 'cause I really want good grades at my classes, and to not fail in French 3. But I will update!**

**Any ideas, suggestions or any comments write in the box below. Reviews make my day and actually make me want to keep on writing.**

**You review, I update.  
Deal? ;)**


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